ERP Effects Prior to Performance Errors in Musicians Indicate Fast Monitoring Processes

Background One central question in the context of motor control and action monitoring is at what point in time errors can be detected. Previous electrophysiological studies investigating this issue focused on brain potentials elicited after erroneous responses, mainly in simple speeded response tasks. In the present study, we investigated brain potentials before the commission of errors in a natural and complex situation. Methodology/Principal Findings Expert pianists bimanually played scales and patterns while the electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were computed for correct and incorrect performances. Results revealed differences already 100 ms prior to the onset of a note (i.e., prior to auditory feedback). We further observed that erroneous keystrokes were delayed in time and pressed more slowly. Conclusions Our data reveal neural mechanisms in musicians that are able to detect errors prior to the execution of erroneous movements. The underlying mechanism probably relies on predictive control processes that compare the predicted outcome of an action with the action goal

Intra- and inter-brain coupling and activity dynamics during improvisational music therapy with a person with dementia: an explorative EEG-hyperscanning single case study

ObjectiveReal-life research into the underlying neural dynamics of improvisational music therapy, used with various clinical populations, is largely lacking. This single case study explored within-session differences in musical features and in within- and between-brain coupling between a Person with Dementia (PwD) and a music therapist during a music therapy session.MethodsDual-EEG from a music therapist and a PwD (male, 31 years) was recorded. Note density, pulse clarity and synchronicity were extracted from audio-visual data. Three music therapists identified moments of interest and no interest (MOI/MONI) in two drum improvisations. The Integrative Coupling Index, reflecting time-lagged neural synchronization, and musical features were compared between the MOI and MONI.ResultsBetween-brain coupling of 2 Hz activity was increased during the MOI, showing anteriority of the therapist’s neural activity. Within-brain coupling for the PwD was stronger from frontal and central areas during the MOI, but within-brain coupling for the therapist was stronger during MONI. Differences in musical features indicated that both acted musically more similar to one another during the MOI.ConclusionWithin-session differences in neural synchronization and musical features highlight the dynamic nature of music therapy.SignificanceThe findings contribute to a better understanding of social and affective processes in the brain and (interactive) musical behaviors during specific moments in a real-life music therapy session. This may provide insights into the role of such moments for relational-therapeutic processes

Dyadic nonverbal synchrony during pre and post music therapy interventions and its relationship to self-reported therapy readiness

Nonverbal interpersonal synchronization has been established as an important factor in therapeutic relationships, and the differentiation of who leads the interaction appears to provide further important information. We investigated nonverbal synchrony – quantified as the coordination of body movement between patient and therapist. This was observed in music therapy dyads, while engaged in verbal interaction before and after a music intervention in the session. We further examined associations with patients’ self-reported therapy readiness at the beginning of the session. Eleven neurological in-patients participated in this study. Our results showed an increase in both nonverbal synchrony and patient leading after the music intervention. A significant negative correlation was found between self-reported therapy readiness and nonverbal synchrony after the music intervention. These findings point to the empathic ability of the music therapist to sense patients’ therapy readiness. Higher patient leading in nonverbal synchrony after the music intervention may thus indicate that the music intervention may have allowed dyadic entrainment to take place, potentially increasing self-regulation and thus empowering patients

EEG Hyperscanning and Qualitative Analysis of Moments of Interest in Music Therapy for Stroke Rehabilitation—A Feasibility Study

Interdisciplinary research into the underlying neural processes of music therapy (MT) and subjective experiences of patients and therapists are largely lacking. The aim of the current study was to assess the feasibility of newly developed procedures (including electroencephalography/electrocardiography hyperscanning, synchronous audio–video monitoring, and qualitative interviews) to study the personal experiences and neuronal dynamics of moments of interest during MT with stroke survivors. The feasibility of our mobile setup and procedures as well as their clinical implementation in a rehabilitation centre and an acute hospital ward were tested with four phase C patients. Protocols and interviews were used for the documentation and analysis of the feasibility. Recruiting patients for MT sessions was feasible, although data collection on three consecutive weeks was not always possible due to organisational constraints, especially in the hospital with acute ward routines. Research procedures were successfully implemented, and according to interviews, none of the patients reported any burden, tiredness, or increased stress due to the research procedures, which lasted approx. 3 h (ranging from 135 min to 209 min) for each patient. Implementing the research procedures in a rehabilitation unit with stroke patients was feasible, and only small adaptations were made for further research

Neuronal Effects of Listening to Entrainment Music Versus Preferred Music in Patients With Chronic Cancer Pain as Measured via EEG and LORETA Imaging

Previous studies examining EEG and LORETA in patients with chronic pain discovered an overactivation of high theta (6–9 Hz) and low beta (12–16 Hz) power in central regions. MEG studies with healthy subjects correlating evoked nociception ratings and source localization described delta and gamma changes according to two music interventions. Using similar music conditions with chronic pain patients, we examined EEG in response to two different music interventions for pain. To study this process in-depth we conducted a mixed-methods case study approach, based on three clinical cases. Effectiveness of personalized music therapy improvisations (entrainment music – EM) versus preferred music on chronic pain was examined with 16 participants. Three patients were randomly selected for follow-up EEG sessions three months post-intervention, where they listened to recordings of the music from the interventions provided during the research. To test the difference of EM versus preferred music, recordings were presented in a block design: silence, their own composed EM (depicting both “pain” and “healing”), preferred (commercially available) music, and a non-participant’s EM as a control. Participants rated their pain before and after the EEG on a 1–10 scale. We conducted a detailed single case analysis to compare all conditions, as well as a group comparison of entrainment-healing condition versus preferred music condition. Power spectrum and according LORETA distributions focused on expected changes in delta, theta, beta, and gamma frequencies, particularly in sensory-motor and central regions. Intentional moment-by-moment attention on the sounds/music rather than on pain and decreased awareness of pain was experienced from one participant. Corresponding EEG analysis showed accompanying power changes in sensory-motor regions and LORETA projection pointed to insula-related changes during entrainment-pain music. LORETA also indicated involvement of visual-spatial, motor, and language/music improvisation processing in response to his personalized EM which may reflect active recollection of creating the EM. Group-wide analysis showed common brain responses to personalized entrainment-healing music in theta and low beta range in right pre- and post-central gyrus. We observed somatosensory changes consistent with processing pain during entrainment-healing music that were not seen during preferred music. These results may depict top–down neural processes associated with active coping for pain

Music therapy, neural processing, and craving reduction: an RCT protocol for a mixed methods feasibility study in a Community Substance Misuse Treatment Service

Music therapy has been shown to be effective for multiple clinical endpoints associated with substance use disorder such as craving reduction, emotion regulation, depression, and anxiety, but there are a lack of studies investigating those effects in UK Community Substance Misuse Treatment Services (CSMTSs). Furthermore, there is a demand for identifying music therapy mechanisms of change and related brain processes for substance use disorder treatment. The present study aims to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of music therapy and a pre-test, post-test, and in-session measurement battery in a CSMTS. Methods: Fifteen participants, from a community service based in London, will take part in a mixed-methods non-blind randomized-controlled trial. Ten participants will receive six-weekly sessions of music therapy in addition to the standard treatment offered by the CSMTS—five of them will receive individual music therapy and five of them will receive group music therapy—while a further five participants will act as a control group receiving standard treatment only. Satisfaction and acceptability will be evaluated in focus groups with service users and staff members following the final treatment session. Moreover, attendance and completion rates will be monitored throughout the intervention. Subjective and behavioral indexes will be assessed before and after the interventions to explore the effects of music therapy on craving, substance use, symptoms of depression and anxiety, inhibitory control, and will be correlated with associated neurophysiological signatures. In-session analysis of two individual music therapy sessions will serve to explore how music and emotion are processed in the brain within the therapy. The data collected at each step will be included in an intention-to-treat analysis basis. Discussion: This study will provide a first report on the feasibility of music therapy as an intervention for participants with substance use disorder engaged within a community service. It will also provide valuable information regarding the implementation of a multifaceted methodology that includes neurophysiological, questionnaire-based, and behavioral assessments in this cohort. Notwithstanding the limitation of a small sample size, the present study will provide novel preliminary data regarding neurophysiological outcomes in participants with substance use disorder that received music therapy

Nobody Is Perfect: ERP Effects Prior to Performance Errors in Musicians Indicate Fast Monitoring Processes

Background: One central question in the context of motor control and action monitoring is at what point in time errors can be detected. Previous electrophysiological studies investigating this issue focused on brain potentials elicited after erroneous responses, mainly in simple speeded response tasks. In the present study, we investigated brain potentials before the commission of errors in a natural and complex situation. Methodology/Principal Findings: Expert pianists bimanually played scales and patterns while the electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were computed for correct and incorrect performances. Results revealed differences already 100 ms prior to the onset of a note (i.e., prior to auditory feedback). We further observed that erroneous keystrokes were delayed in time and pressed more slowly. Conclusions: Our data reveal neural mechanisms in musicians that are able to detect errors prior to the execution of erroneous movements. The underlying mechanism probably relies on predictive control processes that compare the predicted outcome of an action with the action goal

Error monitoring in musicians

To err is human, and hence even professional musicians make errors occasionally during their performances. This paper summarizes recent work investigating error monitoring in musicians, i.e. the processes and their neural correlates associated with the monitoring of ongoing actions and the detection of deviations from intended sounds. EEG Studies reported an early component of the event-related potential (ERP) occurring before the onsets of pitch errors. This component, which can be altered in musicians with focal dystonia, likely reflects processes of error detection and/or error compensation, i.e. attempts to cancel the undesired sensory consequence (a wrong tone) a musician is about to perceive. Thus, auditory feedback seems not to be a prerequisite for error detection, consistent with previous behavioral results. In contrast, when auditory feedback is externally manipulated and thus unexpected, motor performance can be severely distorted, although not all feedback alterations result in performance impairments. Recent studies investigating the neural correlates of feedback processing showed that unexpected feedback elicits an ERP component after note onsets, which shows larger amplitudes during music performance than during mere perception of the same musical sequences. Hence, these results stress the role of motor actions for the processing of auditory information. Furthermore, recent methodological advances like the combination of 3D motion capture techniques with EEG will be discussed. Such combinations of different measures can potentially help to disentangle the roles of different feedback types such as proprioceptive and auditory feedback, and in general to derive at a better understanding of the complex interactions between the motor and auditory domain during error monitoring. Finally, outstanding questions and future directions in this context will be discussed

Neurophysiologische Korrelate der Handlungsüberwachung während des Musizierens

Music performance is regarded as one of the most complex human behaviors. A fundamental aspect of music making is highly accurate motor control and ensuring that the intended goals are or will be achieved. For that, musicians have to constantly monitor their performed actions and the resulting sensory effects in order to detect deviations from the intended behavior. However, the cognitive and neural mechanisms of action monitoring including error processing during complex time-based sequential behaviors such as music performance have remained elusive. This dissertation describes three experiments that investigated different aspects of action monitoring during piano performances of skilled musicians by using event-related potentials (ERPs). In Experiment 1 and 2, ERPs elicited by correctly produced key presses and their corresponding auditory feedback were compared to ERPs elicited by correctly produced key presses whose auditory feedback (pitch content) was at random positions manipulated (action condition). Additionally, ERPs were recorded while pianists merely listened to those stimuli they had to perform in the action condition (perception condition). Results suggest that the intention and action of producing a certain auditory effect enhances expectancies and influences the processing of the auditory input (indicated by a larger feedback-related negativity in the action compared to the perception condition). In Experiment 3, the comparison of ERPs elicited by correctly and incorrectly produced key presses showed that error-related processes occur before auditory feedback of an error is available. In addition, a newly developed setup allowed for the simultaneous recording of detailed movement and EEG data. Results of the combined analysis of pianists’ finger movements and ERP results tentatively indicate that tactile feedback might play an important role for error detection. Both main findings are explained in terms of predictive mechanisms based on the common coding approach and internal forward models.Musizieren ist ein komplexes Unterfangen und erfordert präzise motorische Kontrolle und Handlungsüberwachung. So kann festgestellt werden, ob ausgeführte Handlungen und ihre sensorischen Effekte dem intendierten Verhalten entsprechen. Die neurokognitiven Grundlagen der Handlungsüberwachung während eines komplexen Verhaltens wie dem Musizieren sind jedoch weitgehend noch unerforscht. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden drei Experimente durchgeführt, die mittels Ereignis-korrelierten Potentialen (EKPs) Aspekte der Handlungsüberwachung (inklusive Fehlerverarbeitung) bei Musikern während des Klavierspielens aus dem Gedächtnis untersuchten. In den Experimenten 1 und 2 wurden EKPs verglichen, die einmal während korrekt gespielter Noten samt korrekter auditorischer Rückmeldung, und einmal während korrekt gespielter Noten, die eine manipulierte auditorische Rückmeldung enthielten, evoziert wurden (Handlungsbedingung). Zusätzlich wurden EKPs in einer Bedingung gemessen, in der Versuchsteilnehmer die Stimuli lediglich hörten, die sie in der Handlungsbedingung produzieren mussten (Wahrnehmungsbedingung). Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Intention und die ausgeführte Handlung Erwartungen bezüglich der auditorischen Rückmeldung verstärken, was sich in einer grösseren Amplitude der Feedback-related negativity in der Handlungs- im Vergleich zur Wahrnehmungsbedingung widerspiegelte. In Experiment 3 wurden EKPs miteinander verglichen, die während des Spielens korrekter und inkorrekter Noten evoziert wurden. Die Ergebnisse lassen darauf schließen, dass Prozesse der Fehlerverarbeitung schon vor der auditorischen Rückmeldung des Fehlers ablaufen, und somit unabhängig von dieser sind. Eine kombinierte Betrachtung der Fingertrajektorien und EKPs lässt vorläufig vermuten, dass der taktilen Rückmeldung von Tastendrücken eine wichtige Rolle für frühe fehlerbezogene Prozesse während des Klavierspiels zukommt. Diese Befunde werden innerhalb des Ansatzes des common coding und interner Vorwärtsmodelle erklärt